QUOD

8 definitions found across Law Mind sources

QUODAuthored
The Law Mind • 883 words
Definition
*Quod* is a Latin term meaning "that," "which," or "what," appearing throughout common law pleading, maxims, and formal legal judgments as a conjunction or relative pronoun. Its legal significance is almost entirely contextual: the word itself carries no independent legal meaning but forms a critical grammatical element in Latin legal phrases and judgment formulas. It appears most prominently in: 1. Judgment language: *Quod* introduces the operative clause in formal court judgments, as in *quod recuperet* ("that he recover") and *quod eat sine die* ("that he go without day"), signaling the court's disposition. 2. Plea in abatement judgments: A judgment of *quod* (short for *quod respondeat ouster* or similar forms) was the standard judgment sustaining a plea in abatement where proceedings were initiated by bill — that is, by capias rather than by original writ — directing the defendant to answer further. 3. Legal maxims: *Quod* anchors foundational common law maxims, including *quod est inconveniens aut contra rationem, non permissum est in lege* ("That which is inconvenient or contrary to reason is not permitted in law," Co. Litt. 178a), cited to justify judicial refusal to extend rules to absurd results.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To confine in prison; used as a verb meaning to imprison. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A quadrangle or court, as of a prison; hence, a prison. Marked as slang: "Flogged or whipped in quod" (T. Hughes). The common English slang "quod" meaning prison bears no relationship to the Latin legal term. A researcher encountering "quod" in a historical English context — particularly 19th-century sources — must determine whether the reference is to the Latin conjunction in a legal formula or to the colloquial prison slang. In formal legal instruments, pleadings, and maxims, it is invariably the Latin. In narrative or journalistic historical sources, it may be the slang. The two usages are etymologically unrelated for practical research purposes.
Common Confusion
*Quod* is easily overlooked or misread as a filler word in Latin legal formulas when it is in fact the operative word introducing the court's judgment or the governing clause of a maxim. Researchers transcribing or indexing historical pleadings sometimes strip Latin connectives — including *quod* — from keyword searches, losing the judgment clause entirely. The abbreviated citation "quod" standing alone in older English reports typically signals a truncated judgment formula, not a standalone legal concept.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in pre-19th-century common law materials will encounter *quod* constantly, but almost never as a searchable standalone term — it functions as connective tissue in judgment formulas, maxims, and pleading language. Several navigational points: **Judgment formulas.** The most practically important occurrences are in judgment records. Common formulas — *quod recuperet*, *quod eat sine die*, *quod respondeat ouster*, *quod partes replacitent* — each signal a distinct procedural outcome. Misreading or ignoring the *quod* clause can cause a researcher to mistake the nature of a judgment entirely. Law Mind corpus records from early English practice and colonial American courts will use these formulas without translation. **Plea in abatement context.** Rapalje & Lawrence flag a specific technical usage: the judgment of *quod* in proceedings by bill (capias) rather than original writ. This distinction — bill versus original writ — was procedurally significant under early common law practice and was affected in England by the Statute of 9 Anne, c. 20. Researchers tracing the history of quo warranto proceedings or abatement practice will encounter this usage in period sources. **Maxims.** *Quod* introduces some of the most frequently cited common law maxims. When searching Law Mind corpus for maxim authority, searching the full phrase (e.g., *quod est inconveniens*) will return more useful results than searching *quod* alone. **Indexing trap.** Because *quod* is a common Latin function word, full-text search across the corpus will generate enormous noise. Effective research requires pairing *quod* with the following word or phrase to isolate the specific formula or maxim sought.
Historical Dictionary Support
Anderson's Dictionary of Law treats *quod* descriptively within a cluster entry for Latin pronouns (*qui/quid/quod*), correctly identifying it as meaning "which, that which; what; that" and noting related inflected forms. The entry is grammatical rather than legal, providing translation reference without analysis of how the term functions in specific legal contexts. Rapalje & Lawrence is more practically useful, though the surviving excerpt is fragmentary. The editors connect *quod* to the specific judgment issued on a sustained plea in abatement in bill proceedings, and they quote the maxim *quod est inconveniens aut contra rationem, non permissum est in lege* with its Coke citation (Co. Litt. 178a). This is the entry's most durable contribution: grounding the abstract Latin in a recognized common law authority. Neither historical dictionary provides a systematic account of the judgment formula uses of *quod* — the *quod recuperet* family — which are the most practically significant occurrences in pleading records. Researchers should treat both entries as starting points requiring supplementation from pleading treatises and Latin legal glossaries.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Pleading (Common Law Forms); Latin Maxims in Common Law; Judgment (Forms and Entry).
Related Terms
Quod recuperet — Quod eat sine die — Quod respondeat ouster — Plea in abatement — Capias — Original writ — Latin maxims — Judgment (forms) — Qui tam — Quo warranto
QUODmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
(1057) a judgment sustaining a plea in abatement, where the proceeding is by bill, i. e. by a capias instead of by original writ. private persons, without the intervention of the prerogative, by virtue of the Stat. 9 Ann. c. 20, which permits an information in the nature of a quo warranto to be (1058) Quod est inconveniens aut contra rationem, non permissum est in lege (Co. Litt. 178 a): That which is inconvenient, or against reason, is not permissible in law. Quod est necessarium est licitum (Jenk. Cent. 76): That which is necessary is lawful. Quod fieri debet facile præsumitur (Halkerst. 153): That which ought to be done is easily presumed. Quod fieri non debet factum valet (5 Co. 38): What ought not to be done is valid when done, e. g. an infant ward of court ought tion of the court; but if he or she being of the marriageable age should marry without such not to marry or to be married without the sancconsent, then the marriage holds good. Quod in minori valet, valebit in majori; et quod in majori non valet, nec valebit in minori (Co. Litt. 260a): That which is valid in the less, shall be valid in the greater; and that which is not valid in the greater, shall neither be valid in the less. Quod in uno similium valet, valebit in altero (Co. Litt. 191): What avails in one of two similar things, will avail in the other. Quod inconsulto fecimus, consultius revocemus (Jenk. Cent. 116): What we Quod non apparet non est; et non apparet judicialiter, ante judicium (2 Inst. 479): That which appears not, is not; and nothing appears judicially before judgment. Quod non habet principium non habet finem (Wing. Max. 79; Co. Litt. 345a): That which has not beginning has not end. Quod non valet in principali, in accessorio seu consequenti, non valebit; et quod non valet in magis propinquo, non valebit in magis remoto (8 Co. 78): That which is not good against the principal, will not be good as to accessories or consequences; and that which is not of force in regard to things near it, will not be of force in regard to things remote from it. Quod nullius est, est domini regis (Fleta 1, iii.): That which is the property of nobody belongs to our lord the king. Quod nullius est, id ratione natural occupanti conceditur (Pand. 1, xli.); What belongs to nobody is given to the occupant by natural right. Quod omnes tangit, ab omnibus debet supportari: That which touches concerns all, ought to be supported by all. Quod per me non possum, nec per have done without due consideration, upon alium (4 Co. 24): What I cannot do of my better consideration we should revoke. Quod initio vitiosum est non potest tractu temporis convalescere (D. 50, 17, 29): That which is void from the beginning cannot become valid by lapse of time. Quod ipsis qui contraxerunt obstat, et successoribus eorum obstabit (D. 50, 17, 143): That which bars those who have made a contract, will also bar their successors. Quod jussu alterius solvitur pro во est quasi ipsi solutum esset (D. 50, 17, 180): That which is paid by the order of another, is the same as though it were paid to himself. Quod meum est sine facto meo vel defectu meo amitti vel in alium transferri non potest (Broom Max. (5 edit.) 465): That which is mine cannot be lost or transferred to another without my alienation or forfeiture. Quod naturalis ratio inter omnes homines constituit, vocatur jus gentium (1 Bl. Com. 43): That which natural reason has established among all men, is called the law of nations. Quod necessarie intelligitur non deest (1 Buls. 71): That which is necessarily understood is not wanting. Quod necessitas cogit, defendit (Hale P. C. 54): That which necessity compels, it defends. self, I cannot do by another. Quod per recordum probatum, nor debet esse negatum: What is proved by record, ought not to be denied.
QUODmain
Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890
QUI; QUID; QUOD. L. Who, he who; which, that which; what; that. Other inflections: Cui, to whom; cuicunque, to whomsoever; cuilibet, to any one; cujus, of what one, whose. Quem, which (objective); quicquid, whatever. Qua. On which side; as far as; in so far See QUI.
QUODn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
A quadrangle or court, as of a prison; hence, a prison. [Slang] "Flogged or whipped in quod." T. Hughes.
QUODv.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Quoth; said. See Quoth. [Obs.] "Let be," quod he, "it shall not be." Chaucer.
quodverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
To confine in prison.
quodverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
Quoth.
quodnoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
A quadrangle or court, as of a prison; a prison. | Confinement in a prison.

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